Official: No county funds missing

County Attorney Stephen Doerr said Thursday the county is not missing money from county fair revenues.

However, he said the State Police are investigating an accounting discrepancy of between $2,000 and $7,200.

“Right now our position is that there is no money missing,” he said. “But it looks like our book entries don’t jive. And so we want that followed, and if the book entries jive and we just have a poor way of reporting it, then we need to change that.”

State Police Sgt. E.J. Fouratt is reviewing the accounting of the county fair, which made about $148,700 in ticket sales and carnival rides, according to the county, compared to $97,700 in 2006 when heavy rains limited attendance.

County officials contacted the district attorney’s office last month to look into the county’s books from the fair after becoming aware that funds could be missing, Doerr said.

“(The investigation) is not in-house, the county doesn’t want to look like we’re trying to cover up — even it it’s $200 — the county is not going to be involved in policing itself,” he said.

Fouratt said there is no criminal investigation at this point.

Once the state police review is complete, the findings will be turned over to his office to determine if criminal charges will be filed, according to District Attorney Matt Chandler.